Orlando Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Attorney

For a TBI (traumatic brain injury) attorney, Orlando residents need to choose a legal team with resources and experience. Finding the right lawyer makes building and winning a personal injury case much easier.

Traumatic brain injuries are no laughing matter. These are typically significant injuries with effects that can last a lifetime. In many cases, like in a car accident or a sporting injury, TBIs can cause permanent damage to mental and physical function.

If you experience a TBI, there is a good chance your life will never be the same. You may never work the same job or live the life you expected.

How does that make you feel? Whether for you or a loved one, getting the right legal help after a TBI is crucial.

How do you assess the damage of a TBI now and in the future? What are the medical costs? What about pain and suffering?

Let’s explore a bit about how TBIs happen and how, when finding a TBI attorney, Orlando victims can best protect themselves and their families.

How TBIs Happen & Their Impact

Traumatic brain injuries happen more often than you think. They happen in:

• Swimming pools
• Car accidents
• Sports injuries
• Bicycle accidents
• Slip and fall injuries
• Boating accidents
• Falling objects

They happen on the job and vacation. Often, TBIs are so severe because victims never see them coming. All of a sudden WHAM!, something smacks into their head.

Injury victims frequently lose consciousness after impact. Sometimes the object is sharp enough, or the force is strong enough to open the scalp and require immediate medical care. Other times, however, no bleeding occurs, and symptoms aren’t as obvious.  In many car crashes, people who suffer mild or moderate TBIs do not realize that they have sustained a brain injury at all.  That’s because the symptoms can be subtle, and take time to develop.

In many cases the TBI may not even be caused by an impact to the head, but instead from the hard “contra-coup” movement of a hard stopping of the head. That’s because the brain is like a bowl full of Jello — if it is moving in one direction then has a hard stop, it continues to slosh inside the bowl until it hits the side of the bowl.  The hard sloshing against the bowl (skull) causes tears and microscopic fissures in the brain and its nerves, also known as “axonal shearing.”  Sometimes these heal themselves; other times they can cause permanent injuries that can get worse with time.

In many cases, an MRI or a CT scan must be performed to assess the damage inside of the brain. These amazing medical devices can look inside the skull to locate bleeding and other trauma after an injury.

Sometimes, though, the results don’t show much. Patients and doctors assume they are fine. But when they get home or try to go back to work, they experience recurring symptoms that affect how they move, think, and feel.  Again, this is because many of these injuries are on a microscopic level. The nerves are very small and damage may be subtle. There are new types of MRI scans that can better detect traumatic brain injury such as DTI (diffusion tensor imaging) MRI technology.

The Impact of a TBI and How a TBI Attorney Orlando Firm Can Help

Too often, something hits a person in the head, and they think little of it.

“Shake it off!” a coach yells, or a parent says after someone is seriously hurt. When, after weeks of feeling miserable, they go to the doctor and talk about their symptoms.

How can you recognize a TBI? TBI symptoms can include:

• Feelings of Nausea
• Dizziness
• Difficulty Speaking
• Vomiting
• Headaches
• Sensitivity to Bright Lights
• Sleep difficulties
• Trouble Processing Thoughts or Solving Problems
• Forgetfulness

These symptoms can persist for weeks, months, or even years.

Certainly, returning to work or managing family affairs after a TBI is typically very difficult.

Those injured often suffer lost income, high medical costs, and other impacts from the injury. What should you do if you or someone you love has a TBI that was someone else’s fault? Are you going to just “shake it off”?

With the right legal help from a TBI attorney, Orlando victims can assign liability and seek damages from those responsible. 

Liability in TBI Cases

Is it right for you to be on the hook for costs after a TBI that wasn’t your fault? What if a loose object falls from the ceiling of a hotel lobby, crashing into your head? What if you are hit from the rear in a car and your head is forced back and forth violently?

People are generally nice, and it is often people’s first inclination to say that they are “OK” and keep on moving.

That, though, is the wrong move. In many cases, neglect is at play, and holding people responsible for injuries in a personal injury case is the best way to recoup costs associated with your injury and stop something similar from happening again.

Getting assistance from a TBI attorney, Orlando residents win the justice they deserve. Here are some ways an experienced lawyer will look for and assign liability in your case.

Property Owners & Managers

Property managers and owners have a duty of care they must follow to protect people on their premises. This can include things like cleaning up dirty and wet areas, but it also covers general upkeep. If railings are loose, carpets ripped, etc., a TBI can easily happen.

Sports Facilities

Getting hurt while playing sports like soccer, football, and even basketball is very common. Did the facility provide a safe environment and the right equipment to limit injury?

Vehicle Drivers

TBIs in car crashes happen frequently. Drivers who operate their vehicles at excessive speeds or recklessly are often held liable for TBIs.

Product Manufacturers

Did you expect a product to provide safety or work a certain way, and when it didn’t, a TBI was the result? Faulty products or lax safety checks can lead to a variety of injuries.

A TBI attorney Orlando residents hire should identify and assign liability to pursue damages to pay for medical costs as well as pain and suffering after a TBI.

How a TBI Attorney Orlando Specialist Will Handle Your Case

Depending on the circumstances surrounding the TBI, there is a good chance you’ll receive settlement offers from companies, property managers, insurance companies, and other parties involved.

How do you know when a settlement offer is fair?

Remember – TBI symptoms often persist for months or years. Are you clear on lost income amounts, physical therapy costs, impact on your quality of life, and other costs as a result of an injury?

In all honesty, probably not. It’s hard to put a number on something that will affect you for years.

That’s why with a skilled and experienced TBI attorney, Orlando victims have a better chance at justice.

An experienced lawyer will know how much a case is worth. Here’s how:

Access to Medical Resources

Your lawyer should know doctors and other medical experts who can examine you after a TBI. They’ll document what symptoms stem from your injury and how they will affect your ability to work, move, play with your kids, and otherwise enjoy your life.

Experience with Similar Cases

Choose a lawyer with experience working with TBI victims. Ask them about past case outcomes, settlement amounts, and other details. They will know what your case is worth and how much money you’ll need for your recovery.

Negotiating with Liable Parties

Settlements typically involve a lot of negotiation back and forth between your lawyer and liable parties. Your lawyer will know what’s fair and how to manage communications effectively. They’ll bring them to the table and get you what you deserve.

Documenting Evidence

In addition to medical evidence, the right legal team will collect evidence from the scene, from witnesses, and other sources to build a winnable case. Showing evidence improves your chances of getting a fair settlement.

Trial Skills

Your lawyer should have experience trying similar TBI cases to a jury. Find out what verdicts and settlements they’ve received and what the outcomes were for their clients. Discuss with them their experience in dealing with experts and specialists in the field of brain injury, neurology, neuroradiology and life care planning. You need an attorney who understands the complexities of TBI and the associated issues that come with that.

What You Can Expect

A lot of injury victims want to know what they can expect in terms of a settlement. It’s a fair question and a legitimate concern. After an injury, people face sky-high medical costs and have to fix cars or replace damaged equipment. The bills add up fast.

However, it’s important to state that every case is unique. While there are some general expectations for certain types of cases, no one can tell you upfront how much you’ll get in a settlement or court-awarded damages.

If anyone tells you otherwise, you should take what they say with a grain of salt. Seeking damages for a TBI that happened at a massive hotel chain, for example, is usually different from pursuing damages from a small-time landlord.

Insurance amounts vary, and so does liable parties’ ability to pay.

The best thing you can do is hire a committed attorney with experience working on your type of case and trust the process.

Easing the Financial Burden of TBIs

No amount of money can make up for a serious TBI. People suffer permanent damage. They often can’t move the same way. TBIs impact the way people speak and interact with others. For families, they’re devastating injuries.

Pursuing a personal injury case after a TBI is just one part of overall recovery. It eases the financial burden on a family or individual.

When looking for a TBI attorney, Orlando victims should find the best possible firm with the resources in place to build and win the case. Proactively pursuing your case is a good way to reduce the economic burden after a significant injury.